Unless otherwise stated, the author’s views, musings, and opinions do not necessarily
reflect the attitude of leadership within any of the various Nihon Goshin Aikido
associations, or unaffiliated Nihon Goshin Aikido dojos.

5 January 2017

Inside This Edition:

New Year’s Resolutions ~ Resolving to Change the Things You Want to Change

Aikido Applications in the UFC ~ Here’s One!

Aikido from Scratch to Perfection: The Video

Real Fight Breakdown ~ Mugger’s Throw Devastation

Greetings Nihon Goshin Aikidokai:

Happy New Year! 2017 ~ What will it bring you? What will you do to make 2017 better
than 2016?

My 2017 New Year’s Resolutions

A. Continue pursuing excellence in Nihon Goshin Aikido. This would include several
components:

Explore and Ingest New Nihon Goshin Aikido Discoveries. I have had several recent
“mind blowing” realizations in my aikido training that have increased my proficiency,
and I hope to cement these ideas into my standard operation procedure.

I want to model better and better ukemi for younger students. My experience has
been that newer students “like” to see advanced ukemi when they are nage. It also
helps me get better at ukemi.

B. Earn Gracie Combatives Blue Belt. I’ve been on the 12 year plan, but I’m getting
closer. Test preparation needs to get serious.

C. Compete in the Crossfit Open. I have no aim or goal other than to compete in
the Open Qualifiers and not die in the process.

So you always hear people say, “Aikido would never work in the Octagon” The people
who say this somehow believe that because the uke does not take “aikido ukemi in
MMA or in the street as the technique is applied, that the technique doesn’t work.”
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of ukemi, and the powerful
nature of the techniques in Aikido. Here’s an complete breakdown dissecting an aikido
joint lock working perfectly well in the Octagon. See Video to the left.

Aikido from Scratch to Perfection: The Video

So, after devouring my copy of the book “Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere” for months
in my early training, I became a youtube Aikido junkie.

I would spend hours watching videos, and hours taking notes. Sensei Carter could
testify to my numerous sleepless aikido nights ~ as I often sent him extensive emails
(typed late into the night) wondering about techniques, training, ukemi, transitions,
associations, etc.

In that early period of my training, I distinctly remember coming across Sensei MacEwen’s
“Aikido from Scratch to Perfection,” video on youtube and thinking “Hey they’re doing
Nihon Goshin Aikido!” The uniform patches are a dead give away! I love them for
that reason.

A couple of observations about the video, and why you should make it a point to watch
Aikido from Scratch to Perfection” regularly.

Observation #1. The video serves to outline or to highlight some very common applications
of Nihon Goshin Aikido Techniques. The covered applications are extremely well documented.

Observation #2. This is one of the few Nihon Goshin Aikido videos on the web that
demonstrates transitions between Applications of technique. This is the facet of
the video that originally intrigued me.

As a yellow belt, the idea that you could “string” techniques together was a very
new concept. I can remember one of the Sho-Dans in the dojo doing the First Wrist
Technique to me (causing me to tap), and then immediately transitioning to an Arm
Bar Pin. I asked him, “What technique was that?”

He laughed, and said something like, “There were no new techniques, I just put them
together to form a series. Think about it like ‘chopping down a tree.’ Sometimes
you have to be prepared to hit that tree a few times.” Aikido from Scratch to Perfection
highlights that same mentality.

3. Spin Around at 47:42 (Note how Sensei MacEwen immediately reorients to uke after
the technique. Other styles do not do that, or at least as deliberately).

4. Club Techniques: All of them are great , but my favorite is probably the First
Wrist Technique => Come Along Throw at 48:30

Real Fight Breakdowns

This momma has had enough foolishness and destroys her 3rd world country man. Dang!
She needs a time out!

Actually I “nearly” have some experience with this same throw. When I was a lowly
white belt, I was reviewing techniques with my “Aikido Mother” ~ Maxine Henry. Who
is a sho-dan in the art, and half my size. I was paired up with her often, and was
always mesmerized by her ability to throw my rear end all over the mat ~ at will
and without effort.

One one occasion, she did this exact throw to me. As I was going “over the falls,”
and seeing the mats approach my head at light speed, I remember thinking “this will
not end well.”

Then with the acute precision she often demonstrated, and with my head just inches
from the mat, she pulled me through, and I landed safely on my back instead of on
my head.

I have told that story to new students working on their Mugger’s Throw often. Please
accept my apologies if I have previously told that story in this venue, but it was
an awesome throw.

Alright, well, I think that does it for the January edition of the newsletter. Keep
in mind that we website is choking with material in addition to the archived newsletters.